Method and apparatus for providing virtual circuit protection and traffic validation

ABSTRACT

An approach provides virtual circuit protection. Traffic is received at a network interface device configured to interface an Ethernet virtual circuit of a service provider transport network over a user network interface (UNI). The network interface device is configured as a demarcation point between a customer network and the service provider transport network. Circuit replication is performed over the virtual circuit to create a plurality of communication paths over the virtual circuit by assigning respective tags for independently switching the traffic over the communication paths. One of the communication paths is designated as a standby communication path.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Modern communication networks are growing in size and complexity. Giventhe highly competitive nature of the telecommunications industry,network service providers are increasingly relying on networkperformance as a key differentiator for delivering communicationservices. As the number of subscribers (e.g., customers) increases andservices evolve in sophistication, the performance of these networks candegrade, in part, from constraints of the network equipment. In manyinstances, the impact of network failures or even lapses in networkperformance can result in substantial monetary losses. Consequently, theability to assess and improve upon network performance is a criticalbusiness component for service providers. Moreover, customers aredemanding greater resiliency in the services they purchase from aservice provider. There are many levels of resiliency includingtransport, network element and circuit resiliency. The most resilientservice offers two transport connections to the customer and carriescircuits on diverse elements and transport throughout the network.However, this is expensive for the service provider and the customer.

Therefore, there is a need for an approach to cost-effectively providenetwork resiliency, while permitting ease of network diagnosis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various exemplary embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and notby way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings inwhich like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIGS. 1A-1C are diagrams of a communication system utilizing networkinterface devices (NIDs) to provide protected virtual circuits,according to various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the system of FIG. 1A utilizing an networkinterface device (NID) configured to establish multiple communicationpaths over an Ethernet Virtual Circuit (EVC), according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an Ethernet frame supporting Virtual Local AreaNetwork (VLAN) tagging, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for providing protected virtualcircuits using VLAN tagging, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for switching traffic to a secondary(or standby) path using Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, accordingto one embodiment;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams of monitoring and alarm processes,according to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a computer system that can be used to implementvarious exemplary embodiments; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a chip set that can be used to implement anembodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred method and apparatus for providing virtual circuitprotection and traffic validation is described. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of thepreferred embodiments of the invention. It is apparent, however, thatthe preferred embodiments may be practiced without these specificdetails or with an equivalent arrangement. In other instances,well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form inorder to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the preferred embodiments of theinvention.

Although various exemplary embodiments are described with respect to theEthernet protocol, it is contemplated that these embodiments haveapplicability to other frame-based networking protocol and technologies.

FIGS. 1A-1C are diagrams of a communication system utilizing networkinterface devices (NIDs) to provide protected virtual circuits,according to various embodiments. For the purposes of illustration,system 100 includes a transport network 101 that employs a frame-baseddata networking technology, such as Ethernet, to provide connectivityamong user networks 103 a-103 n (of which two networks are shown).According to certain embodiments, the transport network 101 providesswitched Ethernet services over a fiber network 105 (e.g., SynchronousOptical Network (SONET), Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM),etc.), supporting native local area network (LAN) speeds and standardEthernet interfaces of, e.g., 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps and/or 10 GbpsEthernet. The use of Ethernet technology by transport network 101 isadvantageous in that Ethernet technology is pervasive as a LAN option,thereby providing reduced cost of operations, administration, andmanagement (OAM). According to one embodiment, the transport network 101is managed by a service provider, which may act as a wholesaler oftelecommunication services, to other retail providers, such as contentservice providers, Internet service providers, application serviceproviders, etc. Under the scenario of FIG. 1A, transport network 101supplies a variety of Ethernet services and offers protection at avirtual circuit level. User networks 103 a-103 n (including a host user,serving as a retail provider) connect to the transport network 101 overinterfaces denoted as a User-Network Interface (UNI) 107 a, 107 b.

As shown, one or more Ethernet Virtual Circuits (EVCs) 109 can beestablished over the transport network 101. Each EVC 109 associates twoor more UNIs 107 a, 107 b to transport Ethernet frames over thetransport network 101. The EVCs 109 provides isolation of traffic as toprevent transfer of traffic among user premises that are not part of thesame EVC 109. In this manner, EVCs 109 advantageously ensure privacy andsecurity in the delivery of Ethernet traffic. With the EVCs 109, theEthernet frames are unaltered from the source to the destination. Ineffect, EVCs 109 can be used to provide Layer 2 private or VirtualPrivate Network (VPN) services.

According to one embodiment, transport network 101 utilizes a networkinterface device (NID) 111 a, 111 n, on the end user's premises as thedemarcation point between the transport network 101 and the end user'snetwork (e.g., networks 103 a, 103 n). For example, the NID can definethe boundary between the “inside wiring” of the user premise with thefacilities (outside wiring) of the service provider. In an Ethernetservice, a NID traditionally is implemented as a two port bridge with nomeans of providing virtual circuit protection.

The transport network 101 provides a new multi-port (e.g., 2-ports) NID111 that offers specific circuit replication. As discussed, the NID 111receives customer frames on the UNI 107 for transmission to adestination NID. If an Ethernet Virtual Circuit (EVC) 109 is to bereplicated, the NID 111 provides Virtual LAN (VLAN) tags on members ofthe protected EVC to create two duplicate streams in the same EVC. Thestreams are egressed out of the NID 111 a towards the transport networkto the destination NID 111 b. The members can then be switchedindependently throughout the service provider's network 101. Thisarrangement gives the ability to provide protection to the customerwithout requiring duplicated transport to the customer, thereby savingnetwork sources (and thus reduce costs). Also, the transport network 101allows the capability to monitor the performance of both members of theEVC 109 from NID 111 a to NID 111 n.

Although the approach has been described with respect to the UNIinterface, the approach has applicability to a Network-to-NetworkInterface (NNI) 113, which can be provided to link user networks acrosssubstantial distances (e.g., hundreds of miles). The protection can beprovided from UNI 107 to NNI 113. The NNI 113 permits connectivity toany other type of network(s) 115. In system 100, according to certainembodiments, such networks can include a data network, telephonynetwork, and/or wireless network to handle various communicationsessions. For example, telephony network may include a circuit-switchednetwork, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), anintegrated services digital network (ISDN), a private branch exchange(PBX), or other like network. Wireless network may employ varioustechnologies including, for example, code division multiple access(CDMA), enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE), general packetradio service (GPRS), mobile ad hoc network (MANET), global system formobile communications (GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem(IMS), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as wellas any other suitable wireless medium, e.g., microwave access (WiMAX),wireless fidelity (WiFi), long term evolution (LTE), satellite, and thelike. Meanwhile, data network may be any local area network (LAN),metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet,or any other suitable packet-switched network, such as a commerciallyowned, proprietary packet-switched network, such as a proprietary cableor fiber-optic network.

In certain embodiments, the Ethernet services of the transport network101 can be classified as a point-to-point service and amulti-point-to-multi-point service. For example, according to the MetroEthernet Forum, the point-to-point service is referred to as an EthernetLine (E-Line) service type, while the multi-point-to-multi-point serviceis denoted Ethernet LAN (E-LAN) type. FIG. 1B illustrates thepoint-to-point service, whereby UNIs 107 a-107 c are connected through asingle EVC 109. However, multiple EVCs can be established over the samephysical port at the NID 111. With the E-LAN (shown in FIG. 1C), ormulti-point-to-multi-point service, service multiplexing can be providedat anyone of the UNIs 107.

The EVCs can be configured according to a range of performanceparameters that provide no guarantees of delivery (best effort) to someassurance of service quality: Committed Information Rate (CIR),Committed Burst Size (CBS), Excess Information Rate (EIR), Excess BurstSize (EBS) as well as delay, jitter, and loss. With proper configurationof these parameters, point-to-point EVCs can be implemented as privateleased line service. These network performance parameters can bemonitored by a network management system 117.

Network management system 117 can monitor the transport network 101,collecting usage data, and analyzing the usage data to detect problemsassociated with, for example, Service Level Agreement (SLA)requirements, Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees, etc. The networkmanagement system 117 can interface with or incorporate a datarepository 119 that is used to store usage (traffic) data collected bythe network management system 117 from the transport network 101. When aparticular requirement is not met or usage crosses a set threshold, itsignifies a failure and corrective action(s) needs to be taken.Depending upon the detected problem and the network resources available,there could be multiple choices of corrective actions, some of whichcould be simple, while others could be more involved, for example, byrequiring extensive changes to the current network configuration.

In exemplary embodiments, network management system 117 monitors networktraffic associated with one or more NIDs 111 of transport network 101.Monitoring may be performed over any suitable time interval, which maybe predefined and/or configured by, for example, a networkadministrator. For instance, a configurable time interval may beestablished for monitoring network traffic over several seconds,minutes, hours, days, etc. In this manner, the network traffic of acustomer (as well as an end user) may be monitored before and aftertraffic shaping, as well as before and after traffic policing. Accordingto one embodiment, network traffic information can be analyzed inreal-time (i.e., as the information is generated or collected), on aperiodic basis (e.g., after a predetermined time period, such as at theconclusion of one or more subintervals, or the conclusion of theconfigurable time interval), or in an “on-demand” fashion (i.e., whenrequested by a network administrator). Also, network management system117 can utilize rule-based logic to measure a traffic rate or determinevarious traffic statistics associated with a source (e.g., NID 111 a),such as an average active rate of transmission, an average rate oftransmission, a maximum burst duration, a maximum burst length, amaximum burst rate, or any other suitable parameter. Network managementsystem 117 may also acquire one or more committed rates of service fromdata repository 119. As such, network management system 117 may beconfigured to compare a received committed rate of service with one ormore of the measured rates or traffic statistics in order to determine acommitted rate of service overage, a maximum excess byte count, etc.This enables network management system 117 to determine whether acustomer is conforming to their SLA.

The above arrangement provides a methodology for replicating datatraffic in, for example, a two port NID and tagging the members of theEVC so that they can be switched independently, as detailed below withrespect to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the system of FIG. 1A utilizing an networkinterface device (NID) configured to establish multiple communicationpaths over an Ethernet Virtual Circuit (EVC), according to oneembodiment. In certain embodiments, the transport network 101 supports amechanism for the NID 111 to use the far end MAC addresses that arelearned to facilitate the switching of traffic from one path to theother path. As shown, NID 111 a has two ports, Port 1 and Port 2, thatconnect to one or more EVCs 109 a-109 n over the UNI 107 a, whereby theEVC 109 a, as the protected EVC, provides a primary communication path201 a and a secondary communication path 201 b. For example, Port 1 isutilized for egress traffic towards the network 101. The NID 111 alearns the MAC addresses of the two routers 203 a, 203 b on the twopaths 201 a, 201 b. The NID 111 a uses these MAC addresses as thedestination MAC address. When one path fails (e.g., primary path 201 a),the NID 111 a will use the “standby” MAC address to transmit the trafficonto the secondary path 201 b. The MAC addresses are processed usingtagging logic 205. The operation of system 100 is more fully detailedwith respect to FIGS. 4-6.

With respect to routers 203 a, 203 b, these network devices operate atthe physical layer, link layer and network layer of the open systemsinterconnection (OSI) model to transport data across the network 101.For example, the routers 203 a, 203 b can behave as an edge router tothe transport network 101. In general, the routers 203 a, 203 b candetermine the “best” paths or routes by utilizing various routingprotocols. Routing tables are maintained by each router 203 a, 203 b formapping input ports to output ports using information from routingprotocols. Exemplary routing protocols include border gateway protocol(BGP), interior gateway routing protocol (IGRP), routing informationprotocol (RIP), and open shortest path first (OSPF). In addition tointelligently forwarding data, the routers 203 a, 203 b can providevarious other functions, such as firewalling, encryption, etc. Theserouter functions can be performed using a general purpose computer(e.g., as shown in FIG. 7), or a highly specialized hardware platformwith greater processing capability to process high volumes of data andhardware redundancies to ensure high reliability.

To better appreciate the replication of data traffic to enable greaterresiliency in the network, it is instructive to examine the use of tagsin a typical Ethernet frame, as next explained.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an Ethernet frame supporting Virtual Local AreaNetwork (VLAN) tagging, according to one embodiment. By way of example,an Ethernet II frame 300 is described, whereby a VLAN tag is utilized.VLAN tagging, which is an Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.1Q standard, enables the creation of multipleindependent logical networks within a common physical Ethernet networklink. This standard defines a capability to communicate over differentvirtual LANs through a Layer 3 (Network Layer) switch.

Ethernet, which is defined in IEEE 802.3, in general is a LAN protocolthat employs persistent carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) andcollision detection. For example, devices on an Ethernet LAN cantransmit without needing to schedule such transmissions in advance. Thetransmission scheme is simple in that if packets or frames collide(i.e., the transmission of another device on the LAN is in conflict),each device waits a random time and tries again.

As shown, the Ethernet II frame 300 includes the following fields, asenumerated in Table 1:

TABLE 1 FIELD DESCRIPTION Preamble 301 Includes a pattern of bits forsynchronization Destination MAC 303 Destination Media Access Controladdress Source MAC 305 Source Media Access Control address EthertypeSize 307 Used to indicate which protocol is encapsulated in the payloadPayload 309 Stores 46-1500 octets of data CRC/FCS 311 Cyclic RedundancyCheck/Frame Check Sequence for error detection Interframe GAP 313 Aminimum of 12 octets of idle line state until transmission of the nextframe

A 802.1Q or VLAN tag 321 is inserted between the Source MAC addressfield 305 and the Ethertype field 307. Within the VLAN tag 321, twobytes are used for the tag protocol identifier (TPID) 323. The tagcontrol information (TCI) 325 also is two bytes in length. The TCI field325 is further divided into the following (Table 2):

TABLE 2 Field Description Tag Protocol Identifier A 16-bit field set toa value of 0x8100 to (TPID) 323 identify the frame as an IEEE802.1Q-tagged frame. Priority Code Point (PCP) A 3-bit field to indicatethe frame priority 325a level. Canonical Format Indicator A 1-bit fieldto indicate whether the (CFI) 325b MAC address is in non-canonicalformat, or in canonical format. VLAN Identifier (VID) A 12-bit fieldspecifying the VLAN to which 325c the frame belongs.

Although the above Ethernet frame format is described, it iscontemplated that other equivalent frame formats can be utilized by theNIDs 111 a-111 n.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for providing protected virtualcircuits using VLAN tagging, according to one embodiment. Process 400provides virtual circuit protection at the NID level. In step 401,traffic is received on the user network interface, for example, at NID111 a (of FIG. 2), which then determines whether to replicate thetraffic over different communication paths 201 a, 201 b (per step 403).If replication is needed, NID 111 a via tagging logic 205, generates, asin step 405, appropriate tags associated with the protected virtualcircuit to create duplicate traffic streams for the same virtual circuit109 a. That is, these tags are then inserted into the traffic streamsaccordingly. Next, in step 407, NID 111 a can then switch the trafficaccording to the tags for transport over either of the communicationpaths 201 a, 201 b.

Process 400, in one embodiment, involves the use of Media Access Control(MAC) addresses, whereby one or more such addresses are used todesignated the secondary or standby path, as next explained.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for switching traffic to a secondary(or standby) path using Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, accordingto one embodiment. In this example, process 500 permits usage of MACaddresses for switching over the communication paths 201 a, 201 b of theprotected EVC 109. In step 501, the MAC addresses associated with thecommunication paths 201 a, 201 b are determined using, for example, therouters 203 a, 203 b within the path to acquire the information.Assuming the protected EVC 109 a experiences a failure in the primarypath 201 a; such failure can be detected by NID 111 a, as in step 503.As a result, NID 111 a initiates, per step 505, the switching of trafficfrom the failed path 201 a to the secondary (or standby) path 201 busing the determined MAC addresses.

The use of NIDs 111 a within the premises of the customer or user canalso permit more sophisticated network monitoring.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams of monitoring and alarm processes,according to various embodiments. By deploying the NID at the userpremises, network transparency is expanded over traditional approaches.As shown in FIG. 6A, process 600 provides for monitoring of the networkservice to the customer. For example, the service provider of thetransport network 101 can monitor the NID 111 a of the customer (e.g.,host user) at the UNI 107 a, per step 601. A failure condition, such asloss of signal on any one of the ports (e.g., Port 1 or Port 2), can bedetected, as in step 603. In step 605, in response to the detectedfailure, the service provider, via, e.g., network management system 117can generate an alarm to alert the customer system (which may be also bea network management system controlled by the host user) of the detectedfailure.

Under this scenario, process 650 can be executed by NID 111 a todetermine whether traffic across the UNI 107 a is valid before executingan alarm process or a procedure to collect network performance data.Such performance data collection can be executed by network managementsystem 117 in response to this verification. In step 651, traffic isreceived by NID 111 a via the UNI 107 a. NID 111 a then determinesvalidity of the traffic, per step 653. In one embodiment, thisdetermination is based on customer information and/or service levelagreement (SLA) parameters. If the traffic is valid, the NID 111 ainitiates an alarm process (step 655).

The above processes of FIGS. 4-6 advantageously, according to certainembodiments, enable virtual circuit protection at the NID level. Thiscapability avoids the high cost of maintaining multiple transportconnections to achieve network resiliency. Also, such networktransparency enhances network management functions to more efficientlyutilize network resources.

The processes described herein for providing protected virtual circuitsmay be implemented via software, hardware (e.g., general processor,Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc.), firmwareor a combination thereof. Such exemplary hardware for performing thedescribed functions is detailed below.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a computer system that can be used to implementvarious exemplary embodiments. The computer system 700 includes a bus701 or other communication mechanism for communicating information andone or more processors (of which one is shown) 703 coupled to the bus701 for processing information. The computer system 700 also includesmain memory 705, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamicstorage device, coupled to the bus 701 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processor 703. Main memory 705 canalso be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by the processor 703. Thecomputer system 700 may further include a read only memory (ROM) 707 orother static storage device coupled to the bus 701 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processor 703. A storage device709, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is coupled to the bus 701for persistently storing information and instructions.

The computer system 700 may be coupled via the bus 701 to a display 711,such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display, active matrixdisplay, or plasma display, for displaying information to a computeruser. An input device 713, such as a keyboard including alphanumeric andother keys, is coupled to the bus 701 for communicating information andcommand selections to the processor 703. Another type of user inputdevice is a cursor control 715, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursordirection keys, for communicating direction information and commandselections to the processor 703 and for adjusting cursor movement on thedisplay 711.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the processes describedherein are performed by the computer system 700, in response to theprocessor 703 executing an arrangement of instructions contained in mainmemory 705. Such instructions can be read into main memory 705 fromanother computer-readable medium, such as the storage device 709.Execution of the arrangement of instructions contained in main memory705 causes the processor 703 to perform the process steps describedherein. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement mayalso be employed to execute the instructions contained in main memory705. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used inplace of or in combination with software instructions to implement theembodiment of the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The computer system 700 also includes a communication interface 717coupled to bus 701. The communication interface 717 provides a two-waydata communication coupling to a network link 719 connected to a localnetwork 721. For example, the communication interface 717 may be adigital subscriber line (DSL) card or modem, an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN) card, a cable modem, a telephone modem, or anyother communication interface to provide a data communication connectionto a corresponding type of communication line. As another example,communication interface 717 may be a local area network (LAN) card (e.g.for Ethernet™ or an Asynchronous Transfer Model (ATM) network) toprovide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wirelesslinks can also be implemented. In any such implementation, communicationinterface 717 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic, or opticalsignals that carry digital data streams representing various types ofinformation. Further, the communication interface 717 can includeperipheral interface devices, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB)interface, a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card InternationalAssociation) interface, etc. Although a single communication interface717 is depicted in FIG. 5, multiple communication interfaces can also beemployed.

The network link 719 typically provides data communication through oneor more networks to other data devices. For example, the network link719 may provide a connection through local network 721 to a hostcomputer 723, which has connectivity to a network 725 (e.g. a wide areanetwork (WAN) or the global packet data communication network nowcommonly referred to as the “Internet”) or to data equipment operated bya service provider. The local network 721 and the network 725 both useelectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals to convey informationand instructions. The signals through the various networks and thesignals on the network link 719 and through the communication interface717, which communicate digital data with the computer system 700, areexemplary forms of carrier waves bearing the information andinstructions.

The computer system 700 can send messages and receive data, includingprogram code, through the network(s), the network link 719, and thecommunication interface 717. In the Internet example, a server (notshown) might transmit requested code belonging to an application programfor implementing an embodiment of the invention through the network 725,the local network 721 and the communication interface 717. The processor703 may execute the transmitted code while being received and/or storethe code in the storage device 709, or other non-volatile storage forlater execution. In this manner, the computer system 700 may obtainapplication code in the form of a carrier wave.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to the processor 703 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto computer-readable storage medium ((or non-transitory)—i.e.,non-volatile media and volatile media), and transmission media.Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, suchas the storage device 709. Volatile media include dynamic memory, suchas main memory 705. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise the bus 701.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic, optical, orelectromagnetic waves, such as those generated during radio frequency(RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms ofcomputer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexibledisk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM,CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, opticalmark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or otheroptically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in providinginstructions to a processor for execution. For example, the instructionsfor carrying out at least part of the embodiments of the invention mayinitially be borne on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. In such ascenario, the remote computer loads the instructions into main memoryand sends the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modemof a local computer system receives the data on the telephone line anduses an infrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signaland transmit the infrared signal to a portable computing device, such asa personal digital assistant (PDA) or a laptop. An infrared detector onthe portable computing device receives the information and instructionsborne by the infrared signal and places the data on a bus. The busconveys the data to main memory, from which a processor retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory canoptionally be stored on storage device either before or after executionby processor.

FIG. 8 illustrates a chip set or chip 800 upon which an embodiment ofthe invention may be implemented. Chip set 800 is programmed toconfigure a mobile device to enable accident detection and notificationfunctionality for use within a vehicle as described herein and includes,for instance, the processor and memory components described with respectto FIG. 7 incorporated in one or more physical packages (e.g., chips).By way of example, a physical package includes an arrangement of one ormore materials, components, and/or wires on a structural assembly (e.g.,a baseboard) to provide one or more characteristics such as physicalstrength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electricalinteraction. It is contemplated that in certain embodiments the chip set800 can be implemented in a single chip. It is further contemplated thatin certain embodiments the chip set or chip 800 can be implemented as asingle “system on a chip.” It is further contemplated that in certainembodiments a separate ASIC would not be used, for example, and that allrelevant functions as disclosed herein would be performed by a processoror processors. Chip set or chip 800, or a portion thereof, constitutes ameans for performing one or more steps of providing user interfacenavigation information associated with the availability of functions.Chip set or chip 800, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means forperforming one or more steps of FIGS. 4-6.

In one embodiment, the chip set or chip 800 includes a communicationmechanism such as a bus 801 for passing information among the componentsof the chip set 800. A processor 803 has connectivity to the bus 801 toexecute instructions and process information stored in, for example, amemory 805. The processor 803 may include one or more processing coreswith each core configured to perform independently. A multi-coreprocessor enables multiprocessing within a single physical package.Examples of a multi-core processor include two, four, eight, or greaternumbers of processing cores. Alternatively or in addition, the processor803 may include one or more microprocessors configured in tandem via thebus 801 to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, andmultithreading. The processor 803 may also be accompanied with one ormore specialized components to perform certain processing functions andtasks such as one or more digital signal processors (DSP) 807, or one ormore application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) 809. A DSP 807typically is configured to process real-world signals (e.g., sound) inreal time independently of the processor 803. Similarly, an ASIC 809 canbe configured to performed specialized functions not easily performed bya more general purpose processor. Other specialized components to aid inperforming the inventive functions described herein may include one ormore field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) (not shown), one or morecontrollers (not shown), or one or more other special-purpose computerchips.

In one embodiment, the chip set or chip 800 includes merely one or moreprocessors and some software and/or firmware supporting and/or relatingto and/or for the one or more processors.

The processor 803 and accompanying components have connectivity to thememory 805 via the bus 801. The memory 805 includes both dynamic memory(e.g., RAM, magnetic disk, writable optical disk, etc.) and staticmemory (e.g., ROM, CD-ROM, etc.) for storing executable instructionsthat when executed perform the inventive steps described herein toconfigure a mobile device to enable accident detection and notificationfunctionality for use within a vehicle. The memory 805 also stores thedata associated with or generated by the execution of the inventivesteps.

While certain exemplary embodiments and implementations have beendescribed herein, other embodiments and modifications will be apparentfrom this description. Accordingly, the invention is not limited to suchembodiments, but rather to the broader scope of the presented claims andvarious obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving traffic at anetwork interface device configured to interface an Ethernet virtualcircuit of a service provider transport network over a user networkinterface (UNI), wherein the network interface device is configured as ademarcation point between a customer network and the service providertransport network; performing circuit replication over the virtualcircuit to create a plurality of communication paths over the virtualcircuit by assigning respective tags to create duplicate traffic streamsfor the virtual circuit, wherein the plurality of communication paths ofthe virtual circuit are associated with a common network interfacedevice on both a transmission side and a destination side, wherein thetags are inserted into the duplicate traffic streams for independentlyswitching the duplicate traffic streams over the plurality ofcommunication paths of the virtual circuit, wherein the plurality ofcommunication paths of the virtual circuit connect to a host network viaa first single common router on a host side, and connect to a usernetwork via second common router on an end user side.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: detecting, at the network userinterface, whether the traffic is valid traffic for a particularcustomer; and initiating an alarm process if the traffic is valid. 3.The method according to claim 2, further comprising: monitoring one ormore ports of the network user interface to detect a valid signalassociated with the traffic, wherein the monitoring is performed untilthe valid signal is detected to trigger the initiation of the alarmprocess.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the UNI is among aplurality of UNIs interfacing the service provider transport network,the service provider transport network including a plurality of Ethernetvirtual circuits, one of the virtual circuits having a correspondingnetwork-to-network interface (NNI) for transporting traffic from theparticular network interface device.
 5. The method according to claim 1,wherein the service provider transport network is managed by awholesaler provider, and the network interface device is located at apremise of retail provider, the method further comprising: forwardingthe traffic over the virtual circuit to another user network interfacefor delivery of the traffic to an end user network.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the Ethernet virtual circuit is among aplurality of Ethernet virtual circuits established over the serviceprovider transport network.
 7. An apparatus comprising: at least oneprocessor; and at least one memory including computer program code forone or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer programcode configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatusto perform at least the following, receive traffic at a particularnetwork interface device configured to interface an Ethernet virtualcircuit of a service provider transport network over a user networkinterface (UNI), wherein the particular network interface device isconfigured as a demarcation point between a customer network and theservice provider transport network, perform circuit replication over thevirtual circuit to create a plurality of communication paths over thevirtual circuit by assigning respective tags to create duplicate trafficstreams for the virtual circuit, wherein the tags are inserted into theduplicate traffic streams for independently switching the duplicatetraffic streams over the plurality of communication paths of the virtualcircuit, wherein the plurality of communication paths of the virtualcircuit connect to a host network via a first single common router on ahost side, and connect to a user network via a second common router onan end user side.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theapparatus is further caused to: detect, at the network user interface,whether the traffic is valid traffic for a particular customer; andinitiate an alarm process if the traffic is valid.
 9. The apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:monitor one or more ports of the network user interface to detect avalid signal associated with the traffic, wherein the monitoring isperformed until the valid signal is detected to trigger the initiationof the alarm process.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 7, whereinthe UNI is among a plurality of UNIs interfacing the service providertransport network, the service provider transport network including aplurality of Ethernet virtual circuits, one of the virtual circuitshaving a corresponding network-to-network interface (NNI) fortransporting traffic from the network interface device.
 11. Theapparatus according to claim 7, wherein the service provider transportnetwork is managed by a wholesaler provider, and the network interfacedevice is located at a premise of retail provider, the apparatus beingfurther caused to: forward the traffic over the virtual circuit toanother user network interface for delivery of the traffic to an enduser network.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theEthernet virtual circuit is among a plurality of Ethernet virtualcircuits established over the service provider transport network.
 13. Asystem comprising: a plurality of network interface devices configuredto interface one or more user network interfaces (UNIs) of a serviceprovider transport network that provides transport services to aplurality of customer networks, wherein the service provider transportnetwork includes a plurality of Ethernet virtual circuits, each of thenetwork interface devices is configured as a demarcation point between acustomer network and the service provider transport network, wherein oneof the network interface devices is further configured to performcircuit replication over one of the virtual circuits to create aplurality of communication paths over the one virtual circuit byassigning respective tags to create duplicate traffic streams for thevirtual circuit, wherein the tags are inserted into the duplicatetraffic streams for independently switching the duplicate trafficstreams over the plurality of communication paths of the virtualcircuit, wherein the plurality of communication paths of the virtualcircuit connect to a host network via a first single common router on ahost side, and connect to a user network via second common router on anend user side.
 14. The system according to claim 13, wherein one of thenetwork interface devices is further configured to detect whether thetraffic is valid traffic for a particular customer; and to initiate analarm process if the traffic is valid.
 15. A system The system accordingto claim 14, wherein one of the network interface devices is furtherconfigured to monitor one or more ports of the network user interface todetect a valid signal associated with the traffic, and the monitoring isperformed until the valid signal is detected to trigger the initiationof the alarm process.
 16. The system according to claim 13, wherein oneof the virtual circuits has a corresponding network-to-network interface(NNI) for transporting traffic from the one of the network interfacedevices.
 17. The system according to claim 13, wherein the serviceprovider transport network is managed by a wholesaler provider, and thenetwork interface device is located at a premise of retail provider andis further configured forward the traffic over the virtual circuit toanother user network interface for delivery of the traffic to an enduser network.